On March 23, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board will hold a hearing on charges that George (3251 Prospect St.) violated its Voluntary Agreement (VA). The drinking club—owned by four men who last year bought part ownership of Gin & Tonic (2408 Wisconsin Ave.)—operates under a VA that limits the club’s capacity to 99 and forbids dancing except at private parties, among other restrictions. George has also been charged with making a substantial change to its operations without the board’s permission.

The charges stem from an incident last March during which a fight started between two strangers on the club’s dance floor. One of the men ended up throwing a beer bottle at the other, causing a head wound that required 14 stitches to close, according to an Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration investigator’s report. ABRA is currently investigating a similar incident that happened on December 5: during another fight between strangers inside the club, one man got a two-inch laceration on his head that required stitches to close, according to a police report. The victim didn’t know whether or not a weapon was used, the report stated. George’s license could potentially be suspended or revoked over the incidents.

In a separate matter, George has applied to terminate its VA so it can increase its capacity; the club argues that it must do so in order to remain profitable. The Georgetown Advisory Neighborhood Commission, the Citizens Association of Georgetown, and a group of near neighbors have all lodged protests, and a hearing on the matter was held on February 9.

Hunter Campbell, a member of the George and Gin & Tonic owners’ group, declined to comment because the case is ongoing. Gin & Tonic currently operates under a VA that governs its trash-disposal policy, among other matters.

Three parties have expressed interest in buying 2136 Wisconsin Ave., says a representative of the vacant building’s owner. But so far there are no takers for the hulking tan apartment house, formerly an unlicensed entertainment venue known as Wisconsin Overlook and The Vixen.

Lately, observers have noticed some construction going on inside the building, whose expansion in 2007 was never fully completed. But the owner’s representative, Frank Amantia of Mid-Atlantic Federal Credit Union, says the work is minimal. “These are repairs that were necessary in order to protect the building from water infiltration, in addition to minor work to ensure the safety and security of the building,” Amantia says. “Nothing has been done relative to the completion of the living spaces.”

The building’s former resident, Tyrone Green, faces several charges relating to a party in the building in September 2009—one of a string of events at which a cover was charged and alcohol was served without benefit of a liquor license. He was scheduled to be arraigned on these charges on January 19, but did not appear in court. The judge then issued a bench warrant for his arrest.

A man charged with assaulting a barback at Bourbon (2348 Wisconsin Ave.) has agreed to a plea deal in the case. Last October, police say, the man angrily threw a glass at the staffer, who’d asked him to settle his bar tab. Under the agreement, the assault case against the man will be dismissed in October if he first completes 100 hours of community service; attends an anger management class; and writes letters of apology to the victim and the establishment.

Two nighttime scuffles on the Avenue in January both led to bloodshed. On January 22, a man suffered a small laceration on his nose during an assault outside of Good Guys (2311 Wisconsin Ave.), according to police. At about 3 a.m., the victim and a group of his friends were walking down the street. Five men pulled up in a silver Honda and started yelling catcalls at a woman in the group. Then a man got out of the car, ran toward the male victim, and punched him in the face. The assailant got back into the car and was last seen fleeing north on Wisconsin Ave. The victim refused medical treatment at the scene.

Then on January 23 around 10 p.m., two men got into a fistfight outside 2241 Wisconsin Ave., the former MyerEmco space. During the fight, a woman drove up, took a tennis racket out of her car, and began hitting one of the fighters on the head with it, according to a police report. At some point, that man’s coat and cell phone were stolen, and they ended up in the woman’s car. “We have your stuff, so what now?” the woman, Yuliya Reckenwald, reportedly asked him. When police arrived, the stolen items were returned to the victim, who was transported to the hospital and got five staples in the top of his head. Reckenwald was arrested and charged with assault with a dangerous weapon (the tennis racket). The case awaits grand jury action. UPDATE: In September, the assault case against Reckenwald was dismissed because prosecutors decided not to pursue it. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the reason.

Both our local supermarkets have been known to harbor pickpockets, but pickpocketing isn’t for everyone. On January 30 at about 11 a.m., a patron of Whole Foods (2323 Wisconsin Ave.) parked a 2006 red Honda Civic in the store’s garage, according to a police report. When he returned to the car at 1 p.m., he found the front passenger-side window smashed and his TomTom GPS device missing.

Cardboard now covers a smashed section of glass storefront at Glover Park Hardware (2251 Wisconsin Ave.), but no vandalism occurred there, the store manager tells us. Rather, the window was broken by accident as workers were unloading a truck. A new window is on order from nearby Columbia Mirror & Glass (2212 Wisconsin Ave.), the manager says.